If Everyone Cared
by Leucothea29
Summary: A songfic based on Nickelback's If Everyone Cared. Takes place after Breaking Dawn. A quiet moment between Esme and Carlisle.


The website where I found the information about Carlisle and Esme's background can be found on my profile.

I own nothing except the idea of this fanfic.

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"Carlisle where are we going?" Esme asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Just wait a little longer dear. We're almost there." Carlisle whispered against her neck so she could hear him even though he had kept his hands firmly over his wife's ears for the past several minutes.

He had tied several bulbs of garlic around her neck and blindfolded her to keep her in the dark [A. N. I know, I just couldn't help it] on his plans for the evening. To keep her from tripping or stumbling, he was carrying her bridal-style up and over all of the obstacles that might have been in her way.

It was exactly 100 years since they had first laid eyes on each other, and Carlisle wanted to do something special to celebrate. It had been 1911 at the small hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and Carlisle had been working when the sixteen year old Esme had been brought in with a broken leg obtained from falling out of one of the trees on her family's farm.

It hadn't exactly been love at first sight, but they had definitely left and impression on each other. When Esme, fleeing her abusive husband, had lost her first and only child to a lung infection, she had flung herself over the edge of the cliff near Ashland, Wisconsin; Carlisle had found her barely alive, and remembering her from the ten years before, had decided to change her.

"You can open your eyes now." Carlisle breathed into her smooth, silky, caramel-colored hair.

They were on a high bluff overlooking the ocean; the sun was finishing setting, and the colors painted one of the most beautiful panoramas of which Mother Nature was capable. There were a few scraggly trees that had hung stubbornly on despite the winds and rain that had scoured the cliff, and they provided some privacy while hiding the path they had come up the get there.

Carlisle spread the blanket from his shoulder over the ground to provide a barrier between Esme's clothes and the ground. He gently laid her on the blanket and sat next to her, pulling her closer to him and gently laying her head on his shoulder.

He reached over to a nearby radio and turned it on just as the announcer was saying, "…and now, we have a special song dedicated to Esme from her loving husband."

The birds flew in the wind and spiraled down as the opening chords drifted through the air.

--From underneath the trees, we watch the sky

Esme looked up into her husband's adoring eyes and whispered his name before glancing up and to see the first stars come out.

--Confusing stars for satellites

Carlisle fought back a smile. Vampires confusing something so easily distinguishable was ludicrous, but he supposed that things more obviously different had been mistaken.

--I never dreamed that you'd be mine

Esme thought back to her blurry human memories. The fighting, screaming, and hitting dulled by the lapse of time still were uncomfortable to think about. Instead she turned her thoughts to who had then been the handsome, mysterious doctor she had visited.

He had acted strictly professional, but the sparkle in his eyes had drawn her to him like a moth to a flame. When she had visited the hospital later, she had found him gone, never to be seen again until _that_ night, the night that had changed every thing for the better, though she didn't realize it until later.

--But here we are, we're here tonight

She thought about this and was glad for it all, if only because it led her to be here now with the man she loved.

--Singing Amen, I, I'm alive

Carlisle felt the absence of a heartbeat for a moment but realized it didn't matter. He was able to love and be loved in return. That was all that mattered. That was all he needed to live. That was all anyone needed to really be alive.

--If everyone cared and nobody cried  
--If everyone loved and nobody lied  
--If everyone shared and swallowed their pride  
--Then we'd see the day when nobody died

How true that might be. If everyone cared enough, if everyone loved enough, if everyone just got along, how different the world might be. Carlisle was sad for a moment. No one would ever see that happen, not while they were alive.

They would just have to love where they could and be content with what they received in return. It was enough, enough to survive.

--And I'm singing  
--Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive  
--Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive

The soft hum of insects began to fill the air. The chirpy sound of the crickets and the hum of the mosquitoes that flew overhead lent a soft background to the song coming out of the radio. More stars were coming out, and it was beginning to be fully dark.

A tiny light flickered over the ocean, and they could just make out the steamer as it continued to travel along the horizon.

--And in the air the fireflies  
--Our only light in paradise  
--We'll show the world they were wrong  
--And teach them all to sing along

Esme thought about how many times she had wished she could make people get along and truly mean it. Her children were forever giving each other a hard time, and at times they had needed to separate and go their own ways, but they always got back together again. These were the times she was happiest, when her family was together.

Before Bella had come, there had always seemed to be something missing, but now everything fit perfectly. They were all more satisfied; they knew that though their existence might not be perfect, they were all happier. Even Renesmee had found Jacob, or rather Jacob had found her.

This was also a better way for all of them to live. Nessie had grown and matured, and over time, even Rosalie had admitted that the werewolf always had Nessie's best interests at heart and truly loved her.

They had gotten married a few weeks ago, and were due back fro their honeymoon in a couple of days. Jacob was able to leave the reservation and live in other places because he had broken away from the pack to form his own.

Esme had always wondered about this. It had all worked out so perfectly down to the last detail. It made her wonder about God's had in all of this. She did not share her husband's fervor, but did agree that there probably was a God who had made them, and did still care for them.

She did not regret Carlisle changing her; she only regretted the mistakes she had made early in her life as a vampire. Esme leaned into her husband as the next few lines followed.

--Singing Amen, I, I'm alive  
--Singing Amen, I, I'm alive  
--(I'm alive)

The need to show her husband how much she loved, adored, and appreciated him filled her as she pushed herself up and gently touched her lips to his whispering "I love you" as she did so. He returned the kiss and then broke it, continuing to place small kisses over her face and neck.

He brushed her hair away from her ear and bit down, reveling in the scent that wafted from her, freshly baked cookies, cinnamon, and a sharp scent that reminded him of paint thinner. He inhaled and continued to nip at her neck and collarbone, running his hands along her torso and drawing small circles on her skin.

He began to lift her shirt over her head, but then stopped. He had not meant to come up here to make love to this wife, as much as he wanted to do so. No, he just wanted to bring her up here for a peaceful moment, a chance for them to just relax and not worry.

His wife had been so active, first planning their granddaughter's wedding with the other girls, and then packing and planning where they would move after Nessie and Jacob returned. They had remained in Forks longer than was wise, and it was time to move on.

--And as we lie beneath the stars  
--We realize how small we are

He wanted this moment for them to remember before they left this place. He knew they would be back, there were too many good memories here for them to not, but the next time it would be different. They would not be the same.

It was a part of life, this moving on and changing, even for vampires. It still hurt sometimes, to move away from the places you had grown to love. Bella would be back to visit her father of course, but only then in the middle of the night, when no one would see. Charlie would also probably visit them in their new home, but it would not be the same.

Everyone went through this; everyone felt the pangs of separation. He was not alone. It made him feel the enormous size of the world that sometimes seemed so small. He was no more important in the grand scheme of things than the lowliest of life forms, the amoeba on the bottom of the ocean or the flea in the sand.

--If they could love like you and me  
--Imagine what the world could be

Esme loved her husband and family, that was the only certainty in her life. They all shared a strong bond that would not be broken, of that she was sure. That was all she needed to live her life happily and in peace; no matter what else happened they would always have each other.

--If everyone cared and nobody cried  
--If everyone loved and nobody lied  
--If everyone shared and swallowed their pride  
--Then we'd see the day when nobody died  
--When nobody died...

Unknown to the other, both Esme and Carlisle thanked God for the events in their life that had led to this moment. They shared a love that had lasted one hundred years, and was sure to last longer. What a wonderful way to live, to live in love, be it the love of friends, family, or a spouse.

It was all that they or anyone else needed to continue to survive.

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